By KEN BYRON, kbyron@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, January 29, 2014

The story of a Canton woman whose struggle against cancer touched many in her hometown will put a human face on the Hartford Wolf Pack's annual fundraiser this Saturday for treating breast cancer. Nancy Richard died in November at the age of 41 after battling breast cancer for nearly two years. Twice she thought she had the disease beaten only to have it return, first spreading to her brain and then to her lungs. Chris Lawrence, the Wolf Pack's general manager, said Richard will be featured as part of the team's annual "Pink in the Rink" fundraiser on Saturday.

RICHARD. John Richard, Sr., 66, of 280 Edgewood St., Hartford, passed away Saturday (Sept. 16, 1995) at home. He was born in Milledgeville, Ga., and had lived in Hartford the last 42 years. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor (Hicks) Richard; eight sons; five daughters; two sisters; 56 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends. He was predeceased by four brothers; and three sisters. Funeral sevices will be Wednesday, Sept. 20, 11 a.m., with calling hour, 10 a.m., at Allen-Chapel, A.M.E.

By KEN BYRON, kbyron@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, January 29, 2014

The story of a Canton woman whose struggle against cancer touched many in her hometown will put a human face on the Hartford Wolf Pack's annual fundraiser this Saturday for treating breast cancer. Nancy Richard died in November at the age of 41 after battling breast cancer for nearly two years. Twice she thought she had the disease beaten only to have it return, first spreading to her brain and then to her lungs. Chris Lawrence, the Wolf Pack's general manager, said Richard will be featured as part of the team's annual "Pink in the Rink" fundraiser on Saturday.

HEMHAUSER, Theresa E. (Gleason) Theresa E. (Gleason) Hemhauser, 70, of Rocky Hill, beloved wife of James L. Hemhauser, Sr., died Wednesday (January 8, 2003) at John Dempsey Hospital. Born Oct. 21, 1932 in Union, NJ, daughter of the late James and Julia (Cummings) Gleason, she had lived many years in West Hartford and had resided in Rocky Hill since 1986. Prior to her retirement in 1994 she had worked in the Define Benefits Department for CIGNA, Bloomfield. Besides her husband she is survived by; two sons and daughters-in-law, James L. Hemhauser Jr, and Barbara Hemhauser of Boston, Timothy P. Hemhauser and Cynthia Tower of Glastonbury; a daughter and son-in-law, Debra Ann and Gary Bohan of Colorado; five grandchildren John Richard, Christopher Ryan, Alison Frances, Sarah Elizabeth Hemhauser, Amanda Marie Tower.

DENNISON, Natalie G. Natalie G. Dennison, 71, of Vernon, wife of William T. Dennison, died Thursday, (September 16, 2004) at Manchester Memorial Hospital after a long illness. Born in Southbridge, MA, she was the daughter of the late Irving E. Pulsifer, Sr. and the late Helen Richardson Pulsifer. Natalie was a graduate of Westbock College, Maine. She worked as an administrative assistant in Boston, MA, Denver, CO and the Travelers Insurance Co., Hartford, prior to her retirement in 1989.

SCOTT, Clifford R. Clifford R. Scott, 82, of East Hartford, beloved husband of the late Jean (Larson) Scott, died Wednesday, (December 26, 2007). He was born in Canada, a son of the late Thomas and Anna (Bechard) Scott and resided in the Greater Hartford area for many years. Clifford was a U.S. Army Veteran of World War II and was employed by Colt Manufacturing. He is survived by his two sons, Robert C. Scott and his wife Bonnie, of Fisher's Island, NY and William T. Scott and his wife Lisa, of Manchester; his daughter Sharon R. Twining, of Manchester; his five grandchildren Eric Scott, John Richard, Jennifer Smith and her husband Andrew, and Shannon and William Scott, his great-granddaughter MacKenzie Smith, his brother Arthur Scott and his wife Jean, of Wallingford, and his sisters Pauline Ouellette and her husband Aldeo, and Elsie Bartlett, of Millinocket, ME, and his pet bird "Jessie".

SIEMIONKO. Helen A. (Kozlowski) Siemionko 78, of 372 Elm St., Windsor Locks, wife of the late William J. Siemionko Sr., died Monday (Oct. 17, 1994) at home. Born in Windsor Locks, she was a lifelong resident of the community, and had been employed at Pratt & Whitney and later Hamilton Standard, retiring in 1979. She was a communicant of St. Mary Church, and a member of the Senior Citizens. She is survived by a son, William J Siemionko Jr. and his wife, Shirley of Windsor Locks; four daughters, Ann Rolocut and her husband John "Richard" of Windsor Locks, Jean Stasiowski and her husband, Chester of Glastonbury, Helen "Betty" Bonadies of Windsor Locks and Rosemary Bower and her husband, John of Enfield; 20 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

NELSON, Richard F. Richard F. Nelson, 89, of Bloomfield, beloved husband of Ruth (Breimyer) Nelson died peacefully after a brief illness on Tuesday, (December 11, 2001) at St. Francis Hospital. He was born in Boston, MA, on February 18, 1912 and was the son of John Richard and Emma Nelson of Squantum, MA. He was graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Business School. After living in Louisville, KY, for 22 years he moved to West Hartford in 1957, and most recently Mr. Nelson had resided at the Duncaster Retirement Community.

By KEN BYRON, kbyron@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, October 9, 2013

CANTON - For the past 1 1/2 years, John and Nancy Richard's lives have been consumed by her battle with cancer, and now, her impending death. But as the couple endured rounds of surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments that left Nancy weak and needing help for basic tasks, their fight also became a cause embraced by their hometown of Canton. This summer, there was an outpouring of support for the couple that included hundreds of people, including many they did not know. Fundraisers over the summer brought in thousands of dollars to help the Richards with medical expenses.

By MARA LEE maralee@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, June 23, 2013

WEST HARTFORD - A little more than 30 years ago, Bill Plourd's grandmother made an introduction for him that changed his life. He was only 19 or 20, and had a job installing cable TV. "I had no direction, no idea, no nothing," Plourd recalled. His grandmother introduced him to the president of Parsons Diamond, because, she told him: "You need a proper job. " Plourd didn't know a thing about plating, or cutting tools, or manufacturing, but he was hired. Today, he and his partner Bill Kauffman, or "Billy," own a modest factory in that very same building, selling diamond cutting tools and cutting tools coated with a synthetic abrasive.

By MATTHEW CONYERS, mconyers@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, May 30, 2013

- New Britain defeated Northwest Catholic last month for its first dual meet victory in five years. On Thursday, the Golden Hurricanes did one better. They won their first state championship in 34 years. Led by a senior class inspired by their coach's wife's battle with cancer, the team of just 12 athletes took to their home track at Willow Brook Park and scored 86 1/2 points to win the program's first Class LL Championship since 1979. "This is a family, it is a small family, but they care a lot about each other," New Britain co-coach John Richard said.

Chris Linares caught John Richard's attention long before Linares ever set foot in the halls of New Britain High. Richard, the Hurricanes' indoor track and field coach, said he used to look up the results of the Hershey Track & Field Games in the newspaper and kept seeing Linares' name near the top of the list. "He was always one of the top guys in the state then, even as a middle school runner," Richard said. Linares, 17, gave up his track shoes once he hit high school, deciding to focus on baseball and football.

Chris Linares caught John Richard's attention long before Linares ever set foot in the halls of New Britain High. Richard, the Hurricanes' indoor track and field coach, said he used to look up the results of the Hershey Track & Field Games in the newspaper and kept seeing Linares' name near the top of the list. "He was always one of the top guys in the state then, even as a middle school runner," Richard said. Linares, 17, gave up his track shoes once he hit high school, deciding to focus on baseball and football.

O'LAUGHLIN, John Richard John Richard O'Laughlin of Stuart, FL , beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother died Wednesday, (December 30, 2009.) John was born July 12, 1931 in Pittsfield, MA. He is survived by his wife Florence of 16 years; his four children, Jay of Weston, MA, Kevin of Midlothian, VA, Kelly of Simsbury, CT, Marea Mastrogiovanni of Topsfield, MA; his 12 grandchildren; his brother Donald O'Laughlin of Jamestown, RI; two step children, Michael Martin of Coventry, CT, Jack Martin of Ellington, CT and five step grandchildren.

HAVANEC, Cathy A. (Richard) Cathy A. (Richard) Havanec, 47, of Storrs, wife of Darrin Havanec passed away on Monday (November 13, 2006) with her husband and mother by her side. Her strength, courage and determination the past five months was an inspiration to all. Cathy was born in Omaha, NE and grew up in Rhode Island. She was an employee for Finlay Printing of Bloomfield for many years. She was an avid seamstress, photographer and enjoyed many creative hobbies. She was also an avid racing fan. Other than her husband, Cathy is survived by her four sons, Michael Bessette, USAF, Okinawa, Stephen Bessette, ANG, Rhode Island, Jason DeAngelis, U.S. Army, Vernon, and Patrick DeAngelis, Vernon; two grandchildren, Xavier and Troy Bessette.

JOHANSEN, Ruth W. Ruth Wivagg Johansen, 89, of Unionville, widow of Arthur H. Johansen passed away peacefully Sunday (July 3, 2005). Ruth was born October 3, 1915 in Worcester MA, daughter of the late John Richard and Julia (Peterson) Wivagg, she resided in Unionville for over 68 years. She was a longtime member of ADAH, Chapter #30 in Unionville, and also attended The Memorial United Methodist Church. Ruth is survived by four sons, Arthur R. Johansen of Monson, MA, Hal C. Johansen and his wife Linda C. of Unionville, Kurt P. Johansen of Naugatuck and Guy H. Johansen and his wife Deb. J. of Unionville; eight grandchildren; Erik, Hal Jr., Ben, Garth, Vicki, Beth, Peter and Karl, two great-grandchildren Kelsi and Nickolas, The memorial services will be held this Saturday, July 9, at 1 p.m. in The Ahern Funeral Home, 111 Main Street, Rt. 4, Unionville, with Pastor James Hoffman officiating.

FLORKOSKI, John Richard John Richard Florkoski, 71, of North Branford Rd., Wallingford, died Sunday (March 15, 2009) at his home. &NDtab;He was born in Middletown, the son of the late John K. and Anne (Wolenski) Florkoski. John was a veteran of the U.S. Army. He was currently employed as a purchasing agent with the Wallingford Rod and Gun Club. He was an active member of the Wallingford Rod and Gun Club, the Fish and Game constable, and was an avid fisherman.